The Dragon's Last Breath
by Smile Life Away
Summary: 'He always remembered Iroh's secret ingredient: love.'


**A/N: This was originally posted as part of a set of drabbles, but I'm reposting it as its own story because I don't really want to write those drabbles anymore**

**Disclaimer: I Don't Own Anything, except for my OCs**

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_The Dragon's Last Breath_

Lee poured the jasmine tea into the small cup and handed it to his mentor. The much older man; the owner of the tea shop, and the one who had made Lee his apprentice, took the cup, but did not seem to notice it. His eyes were in a faraway place, and were completely glazed over.

"Sir?" Lee spoke after a time. Lines of concern were etched on the fifteen year old boy's face.

The man took a sip of the tea and smiled with satisfaction, but did not proceed to tell the boy where his mind had been. Instead he breathed; it was a brittle sigh, brittle and weak, very unlike his teacher.

"How is your bending coming along?"

The young earthbender hesitated to speak. _Not good, not good at all._ Just last week, his instructor had deemed him a failure. Lee knew it to be true; he had crushed the man's foot because he was unable to sustain the boulder. Tea-making was much simpler.

"It's…coming," he lied.

The man, Iroh, smiled but said nothing and simply took a drink. "This is very good." He checked the window. "It's time to open the shop. We advertise 'from sunrise to sunset' and it's sunrise." The man pointed to where the sun was drifting. "I am feeling very tired, Lee. I trust you can run the shop without me."

"Yes, sir," Lee confirmed. He tried to hide his excitement, but it was clear from the smile on his face.

Iroh took a final sip and turned away his hands still wrapping around the tea cup. His eyes took on the glazed look once again, and Lee found his smile fading. The concern returned.

"Sir?" he asked again. "Sir, are you all right?"

The teacup fell to the ground and the milky liquid spilled across the floor. The porcelain cup shattered, and the older man's hands shook violently. They were pale, and as he turned them to himself he seemed to observe them with fear.

"My hands…" he murmured. "I cannot feel my hands." The man coughed, and a small burst of fire left his mouth, but it evaporated before it could touch anything. "Open the shop, Lee," he said again. "You're keeping the people without tea by worrying about me. I'll be fine."

The young earthbender backed away, not daring to turn his back on the man until he was out of his sight. And then he opened the door to the tea shop unable to focus on anything except for his mentor. Someone had to be notified immediately, this he knew. Seeing no customers, Lee raced back to where his teacher was. Iroh kept a single messenger hawk for emergencies. Lee could only spare one flight. He would send someone in town to fetch the local healer.

The healer came and the healer left, without a diagnosis and without a cure.

The letter he sent to the man's nephew far away. He arrived in white, the robes to represent mourning, and when Iroh saw him he laughed.

"Are you celebrating my death already, nephew?"

"Uncle…? I thought…the letter made it seem like…like you were…" He hugged the man, and he, at that moment, seemed more a child than a ruler even though he was in his middle years. The earthbender watched as tears fell down the younger man's cheeks. "You should come home. We'll take care of you."

"And leave my tea shop? Never, Zuko, if my shop is gone all these people will have is hot leaf juice."

The nephew smiled and Lee understood why his mentor always talked about the Fire Lord. Behind the scarred face and the physique of a warrior, his eyes held compassion.

"Lee," Iroh called. "Come here and meet my nephew."

He died one week later. His nephew and his apprentice were there, and the shop was closed, but only for the day. Fire Lord Zuko left not long after, with his uncle's body so that he could be given a proper funeral. As for Lee, he continued to serve the customers never forgetting his mentor, even when the shop officially became his. He always remembered Iroh's techniques, and his secret ingredient: love.

~o0o~

**A/N: Review?**


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